


Hero of the Day

by Sonamae



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Grossly over-affectionate friends, Innuendo, Recovery, or Shipping, up to you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-06 04:30:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8734978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sonamae/pseuds/Sonamae
Summary: Merrill deserves to be hero of the day for rescuing her friends.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Again, not edited. If you see something feel free to point it out. I started this forever ago, forgot about it, dusted it off and here you go. A little bit of nonsense.

Fenris nudged his foot between his two friends and they wiggled apart. He sat down heavily on the pile of rags beside Isabela and glared. “I hate this.” He grumbled even as Hawke yawned and attempted to rub warmth into Fenris’ side instead of his other friends.

“Liar.” Isabela muttered as she lifted the edge of her coat and wrapped it around his shoulders. The words made fog rise from her breath and Hawke grumbled sleepily as Fenris huffed and began unhooking his armor for the other mans comfort.

“Then I hate you.” He snapped.

“Probably true, I won’t hold it against you since you’re holding yourself against me.” She smirked and didn’t even complain when Fenris kicked her ankle. “What, I can’t help it that I’m so hot.” Hawke snorted and wiggled closer against Fenris’ arm once it was free of his armor.

“Comfortably sunburnt is more like it.” Hawke muttered. It was Fenris’ turn to snort.

“Alright you two, stop picking on your queen, who brought the cloak?” Isabela teased.

“Merrill.” Hawke mumbled.

“Definitely Merrill.” Fenris begrudgingly agreed.

“Well yes but she brought it for _me_.” Isabela stuck her tongue out and Fenris leaned over, snapping his teeth as if he were ready to bite her. She simply laughed and rubbed his arm as he trembled.

“Don’t worry, I’ll have you all out of here in a bit, no need to worry.” Merrill said as she pulled the spell book closer to her face. “Honestly, it can’t be too hard to learn fire magic from scratch.” She looked up to two sympathetic faces and an unimpressed one. “Oi, I brought the cloak.”

“Yes you did.” Hawke said, eyes shutting as his fingers sought out Fenris’ despite the gauntlets he always wore. “And I can’t thank you enough. You’re our favorite. When I can feel my fingers and toes again we’ll try helping you clear the snow more.”

“ _We’ll?_ ” Isabela sounded scandalized.

“Does it pain you to try to dig your way to your own freedom?” Fenris muttered as he squeezed Hawke’s fingers.

“Unlike you three, I’m not wearing any gloves! I like my fingers thank you very much. And I like them better when they’re warm and wet, not cold and brittle.”

“I’m not touching that.” Hawke muttered.

“Shouldn’t Varric be looking for us by now, or Aveline?” Fenris snapped with another tremble. Isabela hushed him and leaned over, kissing his temples.

“I’m cold too.” She smiled at him and he puffed like an upset cat, then nuzzled his face against her shoulder. “If Merrill can’t figure out the spell, I’m sure Varric will grab Anders and he’ll blast the snow away with a fireball. Quick fix.”

“Or with that charming attitude.” Fenris grumbled.

“No my love, fireball, not poison.” Isabela said sweetly. Merrill cackled and quickly slapped a hand over her mouth.

“Oh my word, that was rude of me.” She said as she tried to force her giggles down.

“Funny though.” Fenris said with a smile. Hawke rolled his eyes and snuggled in closer.

\--

Merrill eventually learned how to conjure a fireball after several hours, and then they were out of the cave and back in the blowing snow of the mountain top. Fenris snarled and grumbled the entire trudge down, snow making his armor clank and his face darken. Beside him, Isabela disappeared deeper and deeper into her borrowed cloak while Hawke wrapped his arms around a very exhausted Merrill as he carried her bridal style down the path. She could barely hold herself up at this point.

Somewhere along the road her legs had given out from sheer drain and he’d scooped her up as she’d cried out of frustration. No one said anything about it.

In fact, no one besides Fenris said much of anything until there were well out of the snow and on the dry path. 

After an hour they spotted Aveline riding up on horseback with a small company. Hawke let out a grateful sigh and ignored his friends insistent questions in favor of settling Merrill in front of Aveline on the horse.

“She needs a nap,” he said as if he were giving instructions, then he pointed to Isabela, “she needs a warm fireplace and a whore,” then he jerked his thumb at himself and Fenris, “we’ll settle for brandy and the largest skin cover you can find.”

Aveline just smiled and hugged Merrill to her chest. “I’ve got you, you can rest now.” She turned her face toward Isabela as her horse began to trot impatiently. “You know where to get your own commodities, but I’ll provide a horse.”

Isabela just smiled and reached for the closest solider as he extended his arm. She made whispered conversation with the man as he hoisted her in front of him and they galloped away without another glance. Hawke just sighed as he took the horse reigns from one of the soldiers and gave the animal a pat.

“You want to get up first?” He asked Fenris, who nodded emphatically. Keeping one arm out, Hawke assured that Fenris got up the side and into the saddle safely, then hoisted himself up behind him. “Ready to head home?”

“More than you could possibly know.” Fenris whispered, leaning back into Hawke’s touch.

\--

Aveline brought Merrill back to Hawke’s home, wrapped in a bed sheet and bleary eyed. She deposited her gently across the couch, laying her out like a Princess before standing and accepting the cup Varric handed her. Hawke opened his mouth from his spot on the floor to warn her, but she’d already taken a full gulp. Fenris flinched, expecting her to spit the drink out, but Aveline showed great restraint and swallowed her mouthful.

“She wasn’t stuck in the cave with us, water would’ve been better.” Hawke said guiltily. Varric frowned and looked at the cup in Aveline’s hand.

She curled it closer to her chest. “It’s vile, you can’t have it back.” She stated before sitting on what was left of the couch. Merrill lifted her feet and set them in Aveline’s lap, taking the mug Varric offered her with trembling fingers.

“Careful Daisy, it’s going to have a strong kick to it, but it’ll warm you up.” Varric’s hand stayed close until he was positive Merrill could hold the glass. “That’s my girl.” His smile was all warmth before he turned. “You two need a refill?”

Hawke shook his head no, hand still combing through Fenris’ hair as they stayed bundled up by the fire. “Have you heard from Isabela or Anders?”

Fenris grunted in disgust.

“Isabela said she’d be around shortly, but Anders said he was ‘far too busy’ to come out.” Aveline said with a shrug.

“You told him Broody was going to be here didn’t you?” Varric asked with a smirk as he walked back to the table in the corner to sit.

“That’s not my name.” Fenris muttered, but he wasn’t really paying attention.

Merrill hummed contemplatively. “It could be me. You know I think I might have said-”

“It wasn’t you.” Everyone in the room chorused. Merrill’s face flushed and she attempted to hide it behind her mug. Her sips were slow and tentative, and Hawke kept an eye on her until Fenris grunted and shifted on the floor. He looked to his side, then down as the elf slid toward the rug and rested his head in Hawke’s lap.

He watched as Fenris closed his eyes with the touch of his fingers, watched him drift into that half asleep state he’d become so accustomed to.

Isabela arrived in a surprisingly quite manner and sat against the front of the couch, a coat far larger and far more expensive draped over a barely conscious Merrill as she went.

“Hmm?” Merrill set her empty mug on the floor, fingers spreading over the fabric of the coat. “What’s this?” She asked before she let out a long yawn.

“A thank you gift to my favorite person.” Isabela whispered as she leaned in to kiss Merrill’s cheek. “Go back to sleep my precious little savior of the day. You deserve it.” Merrill flushed as she pulled the coat in tighter around her. The fur lining brushed against her cheeks and made her eyes seem even bigger.

“She’s right, you saved our friends today even if it meant exhausting yourself. We were looking for you for hours before we actually found you.” Aveline leaned over and gave a gentle pat to Merrill’s shoulder. “As much as I hate agreeing with Isabela, you deserve plenty of praise tonight.”

Varric hummed from the table and stood up. “I’ll go check on dinner, nobody move. You all look too comfortable to disturb.” 

He wasn’t wrong.


End file.
